UGA grad student found dead in apartment of apparent natural causes

A 39-year-old doctoral student who recently returned from England died in his west Athens apartment this week and authorities don’t know why — though no one thinks foul play was involved.

Dirk Magwitz, a University of Georgia student who had a place at Timothy Road Apartments, was found dead on the floor of his home Wednesday by a fellow student, Clarke County Coroner Sonny Wilson said this morning.

The apartment was locked from the inside and it appears Magwitz died of natural causes while eating lunch sometime this week, Wilson said. His body was taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in Decatur for an autopsy to determine the cause of death, he said.

“It all appears to be natural, but we don’t know why (he died),” Wilson said.

Magwitz, of 2035 Timothy Road, returned Saturday from a 10-day trip to England for a meditation retreat, Wilson said. Magwitz missed an appointment, and a concerned student went to his apartment and saw his body on the floor, he said.

Magwitz was a doctoral candidate in marriage and family therapy, a UGA spokesman said. He originally was from Missouri, Wilson said.